I have trained with the National Karate Academies for some years now and I can tell you from experience that Professor Steve Miranda is an extremely talented martial artist and a fantastic person! He has trained with & hosted some of the biggest names in martial arts over the years, he knows his stuff! His credentials ARE real and he earnt his rank & title thanks to his peers through other crediable martial arts organisations all over. I need to also mention Professor does not just train with "compliant opponents" as mentioned in the threads, most of what many see from him are demonstrations and not "bar-brawls", so of course his opponents are to some degree not going full tilt!. That said I personally have had the pleasure of being shown some teqhniques from him and let me tell you they hurt... he applies just enough to let you know he is in control but of course he is not setting out to deliberatley injure any of his students/opponents. I have also trained with many of his chief instructors... more "full-on" stuff, and these guys are fast & crisp, real talent indeed! The NKA teaches people of all ages, genda & abilities so there needs to be rules as to how much punishment is dished out or people will not return to training if they get hammered all the time. Yes there are organisations all over that are quite "hard core" and this is great for some people, just not all people. But many other organisations like the NKA train people in effective martial arts that has proven to work when the need arises. It sort of like GM vs Ford... not everyone agrees on which is best, but I can tell you that if you ARE proficient at any martial art style, you WILL be able to protect yourself & your family in most cases. For one I love it, so do my kids... so give it a go. But it may not be for you, who knows... remember you will only ever get out of it what you put into it! Cheers...

Where does it say "every art is the same"?? If you must comment...great, just get the facts right!
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Again we can discuss "which is best" all day, my experience with several art-forms has made me believe that most have benefits and will help you defend yourself (hence the words "self-defence") in most cases. Yes many of you won't agree... that's cool, I don't really care! But I suppose many people out there also never try new foods or travel to different countries, so a "different" martial art other than their own would be taboo!!
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And have you seen Tiger Woods hit a golf ball? No not all clubs are the same to him (he is/was sponsored remember) but they make little difference which brand he uses!!
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At least you are all talking & thinking about it...PR in action!!

Where does it say "every art is the same"?? If you must comment...great, just get the facts right!
(paragraph)Again we can discuss "which is best" all day, my experience with several art-forms has made me believe that most have benefits and will help you defend yourself (hence the words "self-defence") in most cases.
(paragraph)And have you seen Tiger Woods hit a golf ball? No not all clubs are the same to him (he is/was sponsored remember) but they make little difference which brand he uses!!
(paragraph)
At least you are all talking & thinking about it...PR in action!!

"Most" martial arts will help you defend yourself in most cases? Bullshit. You could spend 20 years studying yellow bamboo, Brinn Jiu-jitsu, or Choson Ninja style (whatever he calls it) or any of the thousands of other complete steaming piles of crap, and it wouldn't help you defend yourself in ANY case, let alone "most" cases. In fact it would almost assuredly end up being the reason you got your ass kicked even worse then you would have otherwise. There are a number of totally valid styles out there, and for each one of them there are likely to be multiple students on this site. So stop it with the "you guys are closed minded" routine.

Also, the idea that Tiger Woods doesn't very specifically choose his clubs and have them built to his taste is ridiculous. Long after he was signed to Nike he still used other clubs because his contract specifically stated that he was under no obligation to do so, and would only switch once Nike built clubs that he felt were superior to what he already was using. So, yes, the kind of clubs he uses does matter despite his skill level and natural gifts.

I don't know the first thing about National Karate Academy, and honestly I don't really care much, but the obvious PR aspect of all the postings here aren't helping their case any.

"Most" martial arts will help you defend yourself in most cases? Bullshit. You could spend 20 years studying yellow bamboo, Brinn Jiu-jitsu, or Choson Ninja style (whatever he calls it) or any of the thousands of other complete steaming piles of crap, and it wouldn't help you defend yourself in ANY case, let alone "most" cases. In fact it would almost assuredly end up being the reason you got your ass kicked even worse then you would have otherwise. There are a number of totally valid styles out there, and for each one of them there are likely to be multiple students on this site. So stop it with the "you guys are closed minded" routine.

Also, the idea that Tiger Woods doesn't very specifically choose his clubs and have them built to his taste is ridiculous. Long after he was signed to Nike he still used other clubs because his contract specifically stated that he was under no obligation to do so, and would only switch once Nike built clubs that he felt were superior to what he already was using. So, yes, the kind of clubs he uses does matter despite his skill level and natural gifts.

I don't know the first thing about National Karate Academy, and honestly I don't really care much, but the obvious PR aspect of all the postings here aren't helping their case any.

Guys,
I do now MMA and have for years now I have respect for traditional styles, kung fu, kenpo, judo, jujitsu, freestyles, etc. We learn from these styles. MMA is loosing respect due to no respect to other established styles. You people that do MMA and have no respect for great masters which we all originally learnt from and do so much for the community need to grow up and stop acting like wankers. Big problem with a lot of MMA is respect, it will fail due to big fat ego problems, no one and I mean no one likes wankers. MMA is becoming a wanker, ego, martial art to the community not good for us guys, so you guys like me that do MMA watch what you say, show respect to all styles and masters.

Guys,
I do now MMA and have for years now I have respect for traditional styles, kung fu, kenpo, judo, jujitsu, freestyles, etc. We learn from these styles.

Apparently, not MMA.

MMA is loosing respect due to no respect to other established styles. You people that do MMA and have no respect for great masters which we all originally learnt from and do so much for the community need to grow up and stop acting like wankers. Big problem with a lot of MMA is respect, it will fail due to big fat ego problems, no one and I mean no one likes wankers. MMA is becoming a wanker, ego, martial art to the community not good for us guys, so you guys like me that do MMA watch what you say, show respect to all styles and masters.

This entire post is full of egotistical remarks. Everything you just described is inherent in the styles of the so called "great master." That is hwy we have the great BS dichotomy of internal vs external in CMA.

Big problem with a lot of MMA is respect, it will fail due to big fat ego problems, no one and I mean no one likes wankers. MMA is becoming a wanker, ego, martial art to the community not good for us guys, so you guys like me that do MMA watch what you say, show respect to all styles and masters.

Or maybe its because great masters are butthurt and hiding behind respect to not "get in the water" so to speak. I remember a time when "great masters" would use the same tactics to block the nationalisation of my country's education system (history lessons).

Or maybe its because great masters are butthurt and hiding behind respect to not "get in the water" so to speak. I remember a time when "great masters" would use the same tactics to block the nationalisation of my country's education system (history lessons).